Chapter 101: Three Pieces of News

A Septon is an ordinary male member of the clergy of the Faith of the Seven.

The Seven are the seven deities—the Father, the Mother, the Warrior, the Maiden, the Smith, the Crone, and the Stranger—or, as some say, seven aspects of a single god.

The Faith of the Seven is the most mature religious system in Westeros, possessing "septs," which are places specifically for religious rituals; famous examples include the Starry Sept in Oldtown and the Great Sept of Baelor in King's Landing. It has a strict hierarchy ranging from Septons to the Most Devout and finally the High Septon, and it commands the largest number of believers.

The Old Gods of the North lack complex religious rituals, and their constraints on believers exist only on a moral level, such as opposing incest and kinslaying; they are more like traditions and customs than a religion.

The Lord of Light, R'hllor, served by the Red Priest Thoros of Myr, is an outsider in Westeros; his only followers are Stannis and his Queen's Men, and even Stannis's most capable subordinate, the Onion Knight Davos Seaworth, does not believe in the Lord of Light.

The Drowned God of the Iron Islands has only the Ironborn as followers, and religious activities are limited to the "Drowning" performed by the sea; like the Old Gods, this is also akin to custom and tradition.

With these three pieces of trash as peers, the Faith of the Seven is simply unstoppable. From the rural villages of the Riverlands to the weapon workshops of the Westerlands, and even the streets and alleys of King's Landing, the figures of Septons can be seen everywhere.

Among the many Septons of the Seven, the "High Sparrow" from the original work is undoubtedly the strongest, in terms of power struggles, strategy, and religious piety.

In the original work, after powerful figures like Tywin died, this man suddenly appeared in King's Landing and was elected as the new High Septon by fanatical believers. He then sold the crowns and treasures of the bishops to exchange them for food for the suffering masses; later, he negotiated with the Queen Regent Cersei, using the cancellation of the Iron Throne's debt of 900,000 Gold Dragons to the Church and the promise to lift the King's protection of the commoners as leverage to regain the power to form a militant church order.

All in all, he is a good Septon who is devoted to the people.

Except for being too dogmatic.

"People do indeed call me the High Sparrow, Lord Arthur," the man said with a smile.

Arthur clicked his tongue twice. "How did you arrive here?"

This great deity had actually appeared at Harrenhal; the Lord of the Red Mill could not say for sure whether this was a good thing or a bad thing.

He liked the High Sparrow's various actions for the commoners, but he did not like him appearing on his own turf.

"I usually travel back and forth between dozens of villages too poor to afford a sept, naming their children, absolving the sins of those who have transgressed, and healing and blessing the sick. It is just that Lord Tywin's army destroyed some villages, and most of the farmers fled to seek refuge. I heard that you receive the wretched here, and I thought I might be of help, so I came."

The High Sparrow stated his reasons in an orderly fashion.

Then he turned to help bandage Anguy's wound.

"No rush, let your peers help," Arthur reached out and pulled his shoulder back. "Shall we chat?"

Although the High Sparrow did not know why, he still agreed to Arthur's request with a smile.

This was Ma Ke's residence, and the many Septons were busy treating the sick, so it was already a bit crowded. Arthur picked up a candle lamp and led him to his own quarters located on the fourth floor of the King's Pyre Tower.

The three floors below were the residence of Lady Whent and her servants and guards. After Arthur moved in with his troops, most of the soldiers lived in the Weeping Tower, which was close to the Flowstone Yard, making it convenient for the soldiers to practice martial arts and wear their armor.

The more than twenty thousand refugees who entered the castle lived in the Widow's Tower and the Ghost Tower, and some refugees with tents were also arranged to stay in the Hall of a Hundred Hearths, the castle's great hall; even so, the entire Harrenhal still seemed empty.

Thousands of refugees were arranged to go to the upper floors of the five towers to clean rooms that had long been uninhabited. Excluding the tops that were scorched beyond recognition by the dragonfire of Aegon I's legendary Dragon, Balerion, the entire castle still had a great deal of space.

Arthur estimated that the maximum capacity of Harrenhal was at least fifty thousand people.

After entering the room, he used the candle lamp to light the two candles in his room, then had the "High Sparrow" sit on a rattan chair by the table.

"How long do you intend to stay here?" Arthur asked directly about the matter he cared about most.

He had to figure out the intentions of this great deity; if he wanted to stay for a long time, Arthur would have to be on his guard against him.

After all, the High Sparrow was capable of using his own Charisma to attract a large group of war victims who had no faith, and using these victims to skip the rank of "Most Devout" and become the High Septon.

It wouldn't do for Arthur to fight and die, only for all the commoners he protected to become the High Sparrow's loyal followers, would it?

"The mission the Seven have bestowed upon me is to aid His believers, so I shall leave whenever they no longer need my help." He replied thus.

Arthur sat on the rattan chair next to him, thought for a moment, and said, "King's Landing originally had four or five hundred thousand residents. Now, because of the war, I fear there are over a hundred thousand refugees pouring in from the Kingsroad. Why don't you go and help them?"

If he could guide this man to King's Landing to fight a few rounds with the Joffrey Da Di still on the throne and the members of the Small Council who only discussed trivial matters, that would truly be a spectacle to behold.

At the very least, Arthur wanted to know how this High Sparrow would handle the relationship between the group of Septons and the Joffrey Da Di, who loved the people like his own children.

"The people of King's Landing need me, but the people of the Riverlands, who have suffered so much from the war, need me even more. I will stay in the Riverlands for a long time, until the war is basically over."

Arthur was stunned and asked, "But Septons like you basically have no armed protection. What if you are killed by stragglers? Although King's Landing is a bit crowded, it is still much safer compared to the Riverlands."

The High Sparrow still wore that enigmatically optimistic smile. "If I am killed by evil men while aiding the commoners, then that is the fate the Seven have arranged for me! My mission is to save all suffering sentient beings."

Arthur blinked, feeling that he could not persuade this very pious Septon, so he brought up another topic.

"What do you think of my various actions?" He needed to know the impression this future High Septon had of him.

If they got along well, perhaps he could be a help in the future?

After all, this was a man who could leap from an ordinary Septon to High Septon in one step.

In Arthur's memory, only that person in the beer hall could compare to the High Sparrow.

"In terms of your stopping the evil deeds of Gregor Clegane and his ilk, and your measures to shelter and protect the commoners, you are a very excellent nobleman."

The High Sparrow said slowly, paused for a few seconds, and then added a sentence.

"But you have killed too much; the Mother will not forgive you. If you could convert and piously serve the Seven, perhaps you could have a peaceful old age. In any case, may you live long."

The Mother is one of the Seven, and also the most useless deity.

Arthur thought about it; he only killed the Western Lands Army on the battlefield, and he spared the lives of all who surrendered.

And the Westerlands Army invaded the Riverlands, causing hundreds of thousands of commoners to be displaced, and the grain they seized indirectly caused many commoners to starve to death; they certainly deserved to be killed.

"Your reasoning is too far-fetched, I..." Arthur was just about to refute him when he heard someone reporting outside the door.

"My Lord, the commander of the Brave Companions, Vargo Hoat, has arrived at the East Gate with three others. Visually, they are all dressed as Brave Companions. Shall we let them in?"

The Brave Companions are the Bloody Mummers; in formal occasions, others use a more serious name for them.

Arthur was in the middle of debating scripture with the High Sparrow and had no mind to deal with Vargo. "Verify their identities again, ask how they escaped, and then let them in."

"As you command." The soldier outside the door turned and left.

After the sound of footsteps gradually faded away, Arthur then clarified to the High Sparrow the reasons for his killing.

But the Septon insisted that killing was a sin, and the two clashed back and forth on this topic for several rounds.

Until a faint shouting sound came from outside the door, which then grew louder and louder.

"Lord Arthur, the members of the Brave Companions have stolen the Whent family's Gold and are running toward the East Gate." Someone ran to the door in a hurry and shouted the report.

"What?"

Unable to continue discussing with the High Sparrow, Arthur told the Septon to stay in a safe place, rushed out of the room, and slipped down to the lower levels.

The soldier who brought the news held a torch, illuminating the stairs and the passageway.

Running to the residence of Lady Whent on the second floor and seeing Steward Richard and Lady Whent alive and well, Arthur finally set his heart at ease.

"What happened?" he asked.

Richard swallowed hard and replied with lingering fear: "Vargo brought his living brothers to my room to seize the keys to our family's storehouse. I rushed over to protect my master and dropped the keys on the way. That was the only reason this group let us both go; they went straight to the basement, grabbed the Gold Dragons, and slipped away."

The steward's account was brief, but Arthur heard plenty of information in it.

To save his own life, Richard had intentionally dropped the keys on the road, and then the members of the Brave Companions grabbed the gold and ran.

"Stay here, I am going to the East Gate to take a look."

After instructing the night-watch soldiers who had gathered around to guard the stairwells of the King's Pyre Tower, Arthur strode from the ground floor toward the East Gate.

After walking a long way, he finally saw the seven or eight torches held by the soldiers guarding the East Gate.

"What is the situation?"

The night-watch soldiers replied: "Commander Vargo and the others said they had your orders to take men out through the East Gate."

Arthur asked again: "How long has it been, and how many people went out?"

"A dozen or so, I suppose. They left nearly ten minutes ago. You see, we only just closed the iron gate."

Arthur pondered; this number of people was exactly all the remaining living members of the Brave Companions.

It seemed these few battles had pushed them too hard, and coupled with Lady Whent's display of wealth, it had stirred up evil intentions in this group.

Fortunately, Arthur was at the King's Pyre Tower, so Vargo had not dared to attack up there.

"Call some men to go to the Brave Companions' quarters at the Weeping Tower and search them carefully. If you find any members of the Brave Companions, bind them immediately and send them to the West Ice Vault Hotel beneath the Widow's Tower."

The West Ice Vault Hotel was precisely the dungeon of Harrenhal beneath the Widow's Tower.

Arthur gave the order, then retrieved his glaive from the East Gate and returned to the King's Pyre Tower.

After the chaotic commotion lasted for half a day, the full picture of the whole incident was finally understood.

After Vargo returned, he took the members of the Brave Companions who hadn't been picked for the raid, ran to the first floor of the King's Pyre Tower, and went to find Richard, intending to seize the gold of the Whent family.

Richard was a clever one; he "accidentally" dropped the keys, and then Vargo, who somehow knew where the Whent family hid their gold, took all the Gold Dragons and ran out the East Gate.

Although the Whent family had declined, their foundation remained, and the family savings still amounted to several thousand Gold Dragons; now, it had all been snatched away.

"It's fine, it's fine," Lady Whent waved her hand, "as long as people are alive."

She did not care much for money.

This incident taught Arthur a lesson: in the future, he would have to use passwords to keep the people in the castle in check.

After all, the composition of the people inside Harrenhal was very mixed.

Two days later, in the barracks hall.

"Arthur, two pieces of good news and one piece of bad news," Patrick shouted from afar.

He walked into the hall from the outside with several attendants.

Arthur was supervising Dickon and Bill in training; hearing this, he turned toward the approaching Patrick.

"Tell me the bad one first."

Patrick glanced at the squad of new recruits and lowered his voice: "The Westerlands Army will launch a probing siege within a day or two, using the latest scaling ladders and oversized trebuchets. A large number of captured civilians will likely be used as the vanguard."

Arthur's expression changed; this was indeed bad news.

The civilians were innocent, yet they were being captured by the Westerlands Army to attack the city.

Steadying his mind, Arthur asked: "What is the good news?"

Patrick's volume was much more normal this time: "First, Vargo and the members of the Brave Companions have been killed by the Westerlands Army led by Amory Lorch. Their heads are impaled on javelins and set up outside the main gate."

Arthur nodded without showing any reaction.

"The second one is much more heartening." Patrick looked at Arthur with stars in his eyes.

"Speak quickly," the Lord of Red Mill urged.

Patrick licked his lips and said loudly: "Tywin was struck in the lower back by your thrown sword; he is currently unable to get out of bed to handle affairs."

Arthur said with pleasant surprise: "Truly?"

This was excellent news.

The many new recruits in the hall had been training, but upon hearing this, they stopped their movements and pricked up their ears to listen.

Duke Tywin's army had left them displaced, so they naturally hated the Warden of the West and his soldiers to the core.

Dickon and Bill also crowded over.

"Naturally, it is true," Patrick said.

"They captured thousands of civilians, which caused their camp to become quite chaotic. Some farmers escaped and entered the castle to seek refuge."

"Several farmers stated very clearly that the Westerlands soldiers were also at a loss because their liege lord was seriously injured. At the moment, this unit of the Lion House is being commanded by someone who is either a nephew or a cousin of Taiwen Laoye."

"This person is determined to perform a great feat first to suppress the many Lion House generals and Sworn Knights, so he has captured many civilians to prepare for a hard assault on Harrenhal."

Arthur asked curiously: "Then is this person a nephew or a cousin? These two are not the same surname."

If someone of a different surname were in charge of the Lannister army, there would be gaps to exploit.

One must know that the main Westerlands Army led by Tywin was composed of elite Lannister soldiers and a small number of soldiers from various vassal families.

The remaining vassal family soldiers and ordinary Lannister soldiers formed the western flank, which was currently being led by Kevan Lannister, marching toward the Twins of the Frey family.

"It should be a nephew," Dickon added, "Duke Tywin married his cousin Joanna, and Joanna's brother Stafford became prominent because of this. I guess only Stafford's son, Daven Lannister, could control the Lion House army in the absence of Tywin's brother."

Dickon was also the heir to a great noble house, so he naturally had some understanding of the family situations of these top-tier nobles of the continent.

Daven? Arthur suddenly remembered that on the night of the raid, the person who was the first to reorganize the army to meet Tywin seemed to be him.

"Then it is eight or nine parts likely to be him," Arthur waved his hand forcefully. "Mobilize everyone in the castle. Those moving stones go move stones, those adjusting the trebuchets go adjust them. Have the hot oil and the spiked rolling logs ready."

"Tywin is seriously injured, so we shall have a good time playing with his nephew."

PS: Seeking recommendation votes and monthly tickets.

(End of chapter)